Woman With Heroin Wouldn’t Pay Cab Fare, Police Say

A Pennsylvania woman faces a host of charges including possession of heroin after a dispute with a taxi driver over an unpaid fare, according to Parsippany Police.

Just after 8 p.m. Saturday, officers were called to the Gulf gas station at 859 Route 46 to check out a report of a dispute over a $109.80 fare involving a woman and a livery driver, according to a statement from PPD spokesperson Sgt. Yvonne Christiano.

Christiano said officers saw the cab driver escorting the alleged fare evader, 29-year-old Lynn Janet Roberts of Wilkes-Barre, Pa., from the parking lot of the adjacent Red Roof Inn back to the Gulf station, where the livery car was parked.

The driver told the officer that he had driven Roberts to two Parsippany motels and to a residence in Newark, according to the police statement. Suspecting that she was planning to skip paying the fare, the driver followed Roberts when she said she was getting the money to pay him, Christiano said.

The cab driver gave the officers a bundle of suspected heroin that Roberts allegedly spit onto the ground, the police spokesperson added.

After the officers determined that the heroin was in Roberts’ possession, the woman was arrested, the statement said, adding that she was charged with possession of a controlled dangerous substance, theft of services and disorderly persons.

Bail was set at $7,500 with a 10 percent option, according to Christiano.